Electric plug



pril 29, 1941. G, EATON ELECTRIC PLUG Filed May 9, 1938 INVENTOR.

1 George 2'1"@ ton.

` BMV ATTORNEYJ.

.Patented Apr. 29, l9fil UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,240,394 ELECTRICPLUG George Eaton, Cleveland, Ohio Application May 9, 1938, Serial No.206,821

3 Claims.

has now been increased to ilfty pounds, soit is understood, as a stillfurther safe guard.

The present form o! invention involves the same principle as in thecompanion case, supra, and is considered to be simplined and hence lessexpensive to manufacture, without however sacriicing its eiiiciency anddependability.

Accordingly, the object of this invention is to provide a simplifiedmeans for relieving the strain to which the electric wire connectionswould otherwise be subjected, such means being capable also of easyapplication to the electric plug.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims whenconsidered together with the accompanying drawing.

Fig, 1 is a view showing the interior of an electric plug in which mypresent improvement is embodied:

Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a view of the strain-relieving means itself. A

It is to be Vunderstood that the present form of disclosure is vmerelyfor purposes of illustration and that there may be devised variousmodications without departing from the spirit of my invention as hereindescribed and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the plug casing comprisesthe'upper and lower members IV and 2 whichare secured together by theand has a. rear opening through which the elecspring coil Iii.

tric cable extends, this cable being indicated by reference numeral areindicated by The clip members reference numerals 5 and 6. are ofduplicate form and will the same general manner of operation as is morein my prior Patent No. 1,905,452, April 25, 1933.

The principal form of clip herein illustrated mprises the upper areadapted to engage the curved portion of the upper clip member justrearwardly oi' the vertical plane through the axis of the The ribs arecabllelwouldberemoved ber by extending the button portion through theopening in the casing member, while the lateral extensions la will thenprevent removal/of the same from assembly.

Immediately beneath the rear ends of the upper clip members, the lowerclip members areV provided with integral loop portions for attachment ofthe electric wires, as indicated at Id. Upon inserting the wire endsinto the loops, they are clamped into firm engagement therewith, andthis form of connection is especially well adapted for use in connectionwith the presser button type of clips.

The means for relieving strain to/ which the wire connections wouldotherwise/be subjected, consists of the sheet form of fibre or otherelectric insulating material I which is provided with the middleaperture I6 and the I1 upon each side of the opening I6. The cable l isadapted to be threaded throughV the aperture II and the bared wiresextended individually through the slots, in the manner indicated itselfserves also in *just outside of the and an annular groove is provided,cable aperture, to receive the wire sheath around the table 4,

larger end of the familiar the cable l. Thus the endportions oftheelectric wires are eifectively enclosed within the casing and there isafforded eective insulation throughout. In fact, the strain-relievingdevice the capacity of an electric insulation wall.

open-end slots in Fig. 1, the ends of the individual wires beingattached to the loops Il, aswabove explained. y It will be observed thatthe number of slots upon each side oi the middle aperture I6 is suchthat the wire end portions extend forwardly after the wireshave placedinthe slots in the manner expiainedJ/VBy having the openend slots, thewires can be more readily placed the same, it being understood that theare so arranged in the slots before placing the strain-relieving devicewithin the plug casing. If sodesired, two separate apertures could beprovidedfinstead of the single middle aperture I6; in which case'theouter sheath of the and the individual inminted wires extended throughme individual shpued f, these parts are placed When therstrain-relieving device has been to the wires in the manner justexplained, and the ends of the wires have been connected to the clipmembers, as also explained, within thence/sing members V(which arethen/secured together by means of the bolts l. For this purpose, theinner surfaces of the casing members I and 2 are provided with groovesfor receiving the edge portions of the sheet member I5. These groovesserve not only to positionvthe strain-relieving device I6 but theysrvealso to close the ends of the slots I1 which are thereby converted intowhat virtually become apertures. The walls of these grooves are higherupon the two sides of the aperture I6 than they are at the aperture I6so as to provide secure means of engagement for the strainrelievingmeans ,I5 and also to restrict the apertures, which are formed thereby,to the desired size. It will be observed from Fig. 3 thatthe passages atthe sides of the middle aperture are in lateral alignment therewith. Bymaking the slots 'of substantial depth, as herein indicated, theinsertion of the wires is greatly facilitated but without interferingwith the required strength of the body I5 which is afforded substantialsupport and reinforcement by the manner of engagement in the deepenedgrooves for the side portions of the body I5, as above explained.

As indicated in Fig. l, the strain-relieving device i5 is so positionedin the plug casing that there is allowed sumcient space for the turns ofthe wires forwardly and rearwardlythereof. The aperture through the rearend casing is of just suicient size to accommodate of the plug Mypresent form be stamped out of-sheet material at comparatively littlecost, the open-end slots permit the application of the wires thereto ina comparatively easy manner, and this device can be applied tothe plugcasing in a simple manner and with ample strength to withstand thestrain to which the wire connections would otherwise be subjected.Virtually, the strain-relieving device, as herein provided, becomes apart of the plug casing itself when in assembly. Needless to say, thewires are eiIectively maintained against dislodgment by the strain, byvirtue of the tortuous manner in which they are threaded through thepassages provided in the strain-relieving device.

It is to be und that so far as the strainrelieving device -itself isconcerned, it may be employed in connection with other forms 'of clipsand not, only with the particular form of clip herein disclosed.

What I claim is:

1. An electric appliance including a longidudinally divided chamberedinsulation body, terminals within said body for wires thereto, said bodyhaving an aperture for passage of the electric cable therethrough, andanchoring means located within said body and between said aperture andsaid terminals, for relieving said wire connections from strain to whichthe electric cable might be subjected` outside of said body. saidanchoring means comprising a substantially rectangular insert ofelectric insulation material arranged in a plane substantialiy` normalto the longitudinal axis of said body and having a plurality of sets oflaterally spaced open-end transverse slots for the tortuous passagetherethrough of the individual wires, the companion halves of said bodyhaving inner companion recesses t y of the inner surfaces and of thelongitudinal axis thereof for positioning said anchoring meanstherewlthin ,against displacement in either direction and for closingtheopen ends'of said slots when in assembly. 1

2. An electric appliance including a longitudinally divided chamberedinsulation body, terminals within said body for connection of theelectric wires thereto, said body having an aperture for passage of theelectric wires therethrough, and anchoring means located within saidbody and between said' aperture and said terminals. for relieving saidwire connections from any strain to which the electric wires might besubjected outside of said body, said anchoring means comprising asubstantially rectangular insert of electric insulation materialarranged in a plane substantially normal to the longitudinal axis ofsaidbody and' having aperture means through the middle part thereof andhaving upon of strain-relieving device can connection of electric',

said recesses in the middle part of sziidL body be- 1o said body havingcompanion recesses transot said aperture means. y 1 portions thereof forpositioning said anchoring 3. An electric appliance including alongitudimeans therewithin against displacement in nally dividedchamber-ed insulation body, etermieither direction and for closing' theopen ends nal within sid body for connection of the elec- 15 of saidslots when in assembly, and the walls of relieving said wire connectionfrom any strain 20 GEORGE EATON.

